February 26, 2016 | English | Ata Richard EliasEstimating the Size of the Levantine East Mediterranean Hydrocarbon Basin

Estimates of subterranean petroleum deposits are an important indicator of whether a commercial extraction venture is viable. Any state seeking to capitalize on such a resource will need to go through a series of exploration stages to determine the size of a given reserve.
In the case of the Lebanese offshore, there is a large amount of data that has been gathered on the Levantine Basin, where the country’s potential reserves are believed to be located. Other exploration phases, in particular exploration wells, and independent assessments of data are necessary before decision makers will be able to formulate sound and informed policy on the country’s oil and gas sector. Consequently, publicly touted reserve estimates should be understood as speculative in nature.